The present embodiments disclosed relate generally to musical instruments and more particularly to a cajon or box drum and other types of percussion instruments.
A cajon is a percussion instrument that originated in Peru. The original cajons were made out of discarded shipping crates. The most common form of the cajon is a cuboid shaped wooden box built to various sizes that is played with the player sitting on the top surface of the cajon and striking the outside of the front panel. A typical cajon has a resonant chamber enclosed by the cajon walls or panels, with an opening or port formed in the back panel for producing bass tones from the resonant chamber. Generally, the opening in the back panel of the cajon body allows for relief of air flow resulting from the cajon being struck by the player, and serves to amplify the sound coming from within the cajon.
Metal strings or snares, attached usually as an option to the inside surface of the striking surface of the front panel, are used to produce a snare sound when the front panel is struck. The cajon walls or panels, because they are relatively thin, operate as vibrating membranes serving the same relative function as a conventional drumhead. Striking a cajon panel or strike panel in different places, e.g. the corners, high or low sections, or the central portion, can thus produce a variety of different and pleasing percussive sounds. To play the cajon, the player typically may use his or her hands, fingers, palms, knuckles and fingernails to produce a multitude of sounds. Mallets, brushes and sticks or any other suitable resilient or hard object may also be used for this purpose. Because a cajon can produce a multitude of drum sounds by striking different areas of the front panel and or side panels of the instrument, and because of its portability, the cajon has grown in popularity. Additionally, the cajon may provide a viable and more cost effective alternative to a drum set.
With the cajon being an integral instrument in Flamenco music and more recently in various other musical styles, the need for a better sounding cajon becomes more apparent. Attempts to improve sound quality have been made in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,485,790 discloses a cajon with wires attached to the inside wherein each wire acts as a damping element. U.S. Pat. No. 7,482,522 further adds a pedal and snare carpet to change the tone of the instrument. However, there was still a further need for a drum that was capable of producing a deeper bass with more resonance such as produced by a conical or elongated shaped drum with a membrane drumhead and open bottom, in addition to the sound produced by striking wood. Yet it is still desirable to have the design and benefits of a cajon, such as that it may be sat upon while played, and can produce the crisp sounds of the wood panels and snares.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have eluded those skilled in the art. A musical instrument proposed herein solves the problem of having to have multiple separate drum and percussion instruments and accessories to accomplish the same desired variety of combined sounds described above.